Middle schools still matter: As new school configurations grow, unique needs of young adolescents deserve attention - function of middle schools in scholastic, social development of students

School Administrator, March, 2002 by Marc Ecker

Middle school education is a transition period, focusing on the changing needs of students moving from the primary to the secondary school. It must take into consideration the fact that the 10- to 14-year-old is changing physically, emotionally and intellectually faster than at any other time in his or her life. It requires flexible learning modalities that maintain a balance between structure and choice. It must maintain the close relationship between student and teacher and foster good communication and involvement of the parent. It must demand accountability but provide for opportunities to improve.

The effective middle school must involve the student in the life of the school through an array of activities where success is bred and self-concept is fostered. I am pleased that in Fountain Valley, we have accomplished this in two alternative middle school settings.

Marc Ecker is superintendent of the Fountain Valley School District, 17210 Oak St., Fountain Valley, CA 92708. E-mail: eckerm@fvsd.k12.ca.us. He previously was a middle school principal.

RELATED ARTICLE: Fast, Fluid Responses to Early Adolescents

MICHAEL J. DIETZ

A crucial time in our development as a middle school came in January 1990 when our staff struggled to agree on a philosophy for our school. Finding common ground about our beliefs about students, staff and the school created plenty of tension.

Six months earlier we began this project full of optimism when a core group of staff from the middle school where I was principal participated in a summer seminar run by the Center for the Education of the Young Adolescent at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. A half year of dialogue about the meaning of statements such as teachers "should be role models; have values that extend beyond the classroom; and recognize and respect the uniqueness of our students" caused us to truly reflect on what we wanted to become as a school.

Lake Shore Middle School went through the typical "storming and norming" in its struggle to achieve a core philosophy. From that turmoil grew a commitment to standards and student goodness that keeps young adolescents uppermost in our minds and defines our middle school of 495 students in grades 6-8. Today, everyone enters the school under a banner proclaiming "Striving to Make a Difference!"

Our staff members strongly commit themselves to a team concept in working with children to provide curriculum and programs that are academically rigorous and developmentally appropriate. In light of the growing interest in K-8 schools and single-grade academies, we believe our approach is fundamentally sound and keeps the focus on what early adolescents need to know and be able to do as successful students and citizens.

Developing curriculum based on the brain learning principles described by Eric Jensen and curriculum integration advocated by James Beane and Heidi Hayes Jacobs, we are striving to have learning make sense and have meaning in the minds of middle-school children. One of our teachers, Carrie Wilson, demonstrated this when a group of 8th grade girls developed a science project titled "Melanoma Barbie," using the classic doll as part of a detailed study to help illustrate the meaning of skin cancer. Likewise, Sheila Jentsch's 8th-grade students' service learning project combines a year-long study of human growth and development with weekly class trips to work with preschoolers at a local day care center. Rose Riege, Jakke Tchang and Ethel Stern's service learning projects allow students to teach active reading skills throughout the year to 1st-and 2nd-grade study buddies at a neighboring elementary school.